Heat’s James On Brink Of First Title

LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat gestures on court in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Four of the 2012 NBA Finals on June 19, 2012 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The HEat won 104-98.NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

(credit: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

MIAMI (AP) – The only thing that can stop LeBron James‘ championship coronation is another Thunder comeback.

LeBron is on LeBrink, a victory from winning his first NBA title. Appearing relaxed Wednesday, he said he has recovered well from the cramping issues that knocked him out of Game 4.

He apologized for his performance in last year’s NBA Finals and what he called his immaturity toward fans and media afterward. He appears completely different now, more comfortable on and off the court and seeming to have figured out everything it takes to become a champion.

He’s almost there, but won’t think about it until his Miami Heat have picked up one more victory.

“As crazy as it sounds, I haven’t got caught up in it,” James said. “I won’t get caught up in it because I’m not going to let, you know – the human nature is to automatically think about after we win it, what are we going to do. I’m not there. I won’t get there until those zeros hit and I see that we won.

“I’m the leader of this team, and I’m not comfortable right now. I’m comfortable in my game, but I’m not going to be comfortable until we seal this thing.”

The Heat have three cracks at it, starting with Game 5 on Thursday on their home floor. No team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals, but the Thunder already wiped out one big hole just one round ago in the Western Conference finals.

“I’ve been down 0-2 against San Antonio and everybody said it was over then, and we won,” Kevin Durant said. “But it’s over with. That’s old. It’s a new series. We’ve got to be ready to come out here and try to get this Game 5 tomorrow. We’ll see what happens. We’re not going to give up. We’re going to keep fighting to the end and hopefully we can take this thing back to the crib.”

The series was hyped as a James-Durant matchup, the league’s MVP against its runner-up and scoring champion, the winner earning the right to be called best player in the game. They are fairly even in the box score but James is far ahead in the only place that matters to them: the scoreboard.

And somewhat surprisingly, he’s gotten more help from supporting players, from Shane Battier‘s 17 points in Game 2 to Mario Chalmers‘ 25 points in Game 4, including a huge basket after James was forced from the game for good. Meanwhile, Durant has watched Sixth Man of the Year James Harden miss 16 of his 20 shots in Miami.